The Death of Louis XIV

  • GOOD TIME Tops Film Comment Magazine’s 2017 Best-of-Year LISTS

    [caption id="attachment_22877" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Good Time Good Time[/caption] Josh and Benny Safdie’s Good Time took the top spot among films released in 2017 on Film Comment magazine’s annual end-of-year list. Other top ranking films include Terence Davies’s A Quiet Passion, and Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper. Of the films that screened at festivals worldwide but have not announced stateside distribution, Pedro Pinho’s The Nothing Factory, Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, and Heinz Emigholz’s Streetscapes [Dialogue] received the top rankings. Published since 1962, Film Comment magazine features in-depth reviews, critical analysis, and feature coverage of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world.

    Film Comment’s Top 10 Films Released in 2017:

    1. Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie, USA 2. A Quiet Passion Terence Davies, U.K./Belgium 3. Personal Shopper Olivier Assayas, France 4. Get Out Jordan Peele, USA 5. Nocturama Bertrand Bonello, France 6. Ex Libris: The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, USA 7. The Death of Louis XIV Albert Serra, France/Portugal/Spain 8. Faces Places Agnès Varda and JR, France 9. The Lost City of Z James Gray, USA 10. Lady Bird Greta Gerwig, USA Film Comment’s survey also ranks films that have screened and made notable appearances at festivals throughout the year, but remain without U.S. distribution at press time.

    Film Comment’s Top 10 Unreleased Films of 2017:

    1. The Nothing Factory Pedro Pinho, Portugal 2. A Gentle Creature Sergei Loznitsa, France/Germany/Lithuania/The Netherlands 3. Streetscapes [Dialogue] Heinz Emigholz, Germany 4. Milla Valérie Massadian, France 5. Tonsler Park Kevin Jerome Everson, USA 6. Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany 7. Spoor Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik, Poland/Germany/Czech Republic 8. Le Fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Greece/Germany/Qatar 9. 3/4 Ilian Metev, Bulgaria 10. The Venerable W. Barbet Schroeder, France/Switzerland “Out of the hundreds of movies released in 2017, our esteemed contributors have distilled the year into an energized and energizing lineup of essential films,” said Editor-in-Chief Nicolas Rapold. “This selection reflects Film Comment’s love for the art and craft of cinema in its many forms, ranging from first-time filmmakers to 43rd-timers. Not to mention film’s many seasons: the top five all opened before the traditional fall frenzy of releases. Read all about it in Film Comment.”

    THE FILM COMMENT BEST OF 2017: THE COMPLETE LIST OF TOP 20 TITLES

    RELEASED IN 2017

    1. Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie, USA 2. A Quiet Passion Terence Davies, U.K./Belgium 3. Personal Shopper Olivier Assayas, France 4. Get Out Jordan Peele, USA 5. Nocturama Bertrand Bonello, France 6. Ex Libris: The New York Public Library Frederick Wiseman, USA 7. The Death of Louis XIV Albert Serra, France/Portugal/Spain 8. Faces Places Agnès Varda and JR, France 9. The Lost City of Z James Gray, USA 10. Lady Bird Greta Gerwig, USA Rankings #11-20 11. The Human Surge Eduardo Williams, Argentina 12. The Other Side of Hope Aki Kaurismäki, Finland 13. The Florida Project Sean Baker, USA 14. Dawson City: Frozen Time Bill Morrison, USA 15. Phantom Thread Paul Thomas Anderson, USA 16. On the Beach at Night Alone Hong Sangsoo, South Korea 17. Wonderstruck Todd Haynes, USA 18. Mudbound Dee Rees, USA 19. BPM: Beats Per Minute Robin Campillo, France 20. The Square Ruben Östlund, Sweden

    FILMS WITHOUT DISTRIBUTION IN 2017

    1. The Nothing Factory Pedro Pinho, Portugal 2. A Gentle Creature Sergei Loznitsa, France/Germany/Lithuania/The Netherlands 3. Streetscapes [Dialogue] Heinz Emigholz, Germany 4. Milla Valérie Massadian, France 5. Tonsler Park Kevin Jerome Everson, USA 6. Mrs. Fang Wang Bing, France/China/Germany 7. Spoor Agnieszka Holland and Kasia Adamik, Poland/Germany/Czech Republic 8. Le Fort des fous Narimane Mari, France/Algeria/Greece/Germany/Qatar 9. 3/4 Ilian Metev, Bulgaria 10. The Venerable W. Barbet Schroeder, France/Switzerland Rankings #11-20 11. Golden Exits Alex Ross Perry, USA 12. Mrs. Hyde Serge Bozon, France 13. The Wandering Soap Opera Raúl Ruiz & Valeria Sarmiento, Chile 14. Life and Nothing More Antonio Méndez Esparza, Spain/USA 15. Until the Birds Return Karim Moussaoui, France/Algeria/Germany 16. Good Luck Ben Russell, France/Germany 17. Distant Constellation Shevaun Mizrahi, Turkey/USA 18. The Quartet (Elohim, Abaton, Coda, Ode) Nathaniel Dorsky, USA 19. Drift Helena Wittmann, Germany 20. Untitled Matthew Glawogger & Monika Willi, Austria

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  • TONI ERDMANN, ELLE, MOONLIGHT Win International Cinephile Society Awards

    Toni Erdmann directed by Maren Ade
    Toni Erdmann directed by Maren Ade

    Maren Ade’s dark comedy, Toni Erdmann was the big winner at the 14th International Cinephile Society Awards (ICS), taking top honors for Best picture, director, non-English language film and original screenplay.  

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  • French Actor Jean-Pierre Léaud to Receive Honorary Palme d’or at Cannes Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_13835" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Jean-Pierre Léaud Jean-Pierre Léaud[/caption] French actor/comedian Jean-Pierre Léaud will receive the honorary Palme d’or at the upcoming 69th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Jean-Pierre Léaud is part of the Cannes legend. He was discovered by François Truffaut who made him the young hero of his first film, Les 400 Coups (The 400 Blows), and made his first appearance on the Croisette in 1959 as an extrovert, unruly 14-year-old. His spontaneity was representative of the wind of freedom that the French New Wave brought to cinema. Antoine Doinel and François Truffaut continued to support him with Antoine et Colette (Antoine and Colette) (1962), Baisers volés (Stolen Kisses) (1968), Domicile conjugal (Bed and Board) (1970) and L’Amour en fuite (Love on the Run) (1979). As early as 1965, he began what was to be a long partnership with Jean-Luc Godard; Masculin féminin (1966) and La Chinoise (1967) are considered to be committed and forward-thinking highlights of their collaboration. Fascinated by cinematographic language, Jean-Pierre Léaud was even assistant director for several films by Godard (Pierrot le fou (Crazy Pete), Alphaville) and Truffaut (La Peau douce) (The Soft Skin). He can also be found in films by Bernardo Bertolucci (Last Tango in Paris) or Jacques Rivette (Out 1). In La Maman et la Putain (The Mother and the Whore) (1973), his offbeat acting, between poetry and flippancy, was offered an unequalled setting and consecrated him once and for all. The film by Jean Eustache was emblematic for a whole generation and received the Jury’s Special Grand Prix at the Festival de Cannes before becoming a cult film. Since then, the passionate and clumsy, idealistic and disenchanted or enigmatic characters he plays are part of the universes of Aki Kaurismäki (I Hired a Contract Killer), Olivier Assayas (Paris s’éveille (Paris Awakes), Irma Vep), Lucas Belvaux (Pour rire) (Just for Laughs), Philippe Garrel (La Naissance de l’amour) (The Birth of Love), Bertrand Bonello (Le Pornographe) (The Pornographer) or even Tsai Ming-liang (Et là-bas quelle heure est-il ? (What Time is it There?) or Visage (Face), presented in Competition at Cannes in 2009). Jean-Pierre Léaud is forever daring and surprising, as when embodying the Sun King in the new film by the Spanish director Albert Serra, La Mort de Louis XIV (The Death of Louis XIV), to be shown as a Special Screenings and with both of them present, on Thursday May 19th at 5 pm.

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